Wednesday, February 2, 1983
Daily Nebraskan
Coowicctfed mioircfeireir:
'T&yiiug to get myself together;
By Palti Gallagher
Winfred Samuels is a man with several
titles.
First, and foremost, he is a student. Five
mornings a week, Samuels rises with the
sun, early enough to make his 7:30 class 3t
UNL.
He is also a Moslem, a faith he says
helps him believe in CJod and in himself
and prompts his desire to be called Rafiq.
His faith, he says, is inherited. His father,
grandfather and uncle were Baptist preach
ers. Samuels is also a Nebraska resident. He
lists his address as the Lincoln Post Care
Center, Air Park West. He shares his home
with 72 others who, like him, previously
lived at the Nebraska State Penitentiary.
Now, because of good behavior, Samuels
and his "roommates" live at the care
center.
Samuels' residence gives him another
identity - that of a convict. Winfred
Samuels is a convicted murderer.
That title is not one he likes to discuss.
Interviewed last week at the post care
center, Samuels elaborated on the crime
that sent him to the state penitentiary four
years ago.
"People make mistakes. It never should
have happened," he said. "He had a gun; I
had a gun. It could have been me."
But it did happen. On the night of Oct.
16, 1978, Winfred Samuels and another
man, both Omahans, approached a man in
a car. Newspaper accounts said Samuels'
companion claimed the man in the car
"turned around and saw me and Winfred
and he went for his gun." Before the man
fired, Samuels pulled a .25-caliber pistol
and shot Ronald E. Cunningham of Okla
homa City at point-blank range.
The prosecution entered a first-degree
murder charge; the defense said it was self
defense. Samuels was found guilty of
second-degree murder and was sentenced
to 13 years in the penitentiary.
He started serving that sentence in April
of 1979. By last June, Samuels had earned
himself a place in the educational-release
programs at the low-security post care
center. By July, he was enrolled at UNL,
beginning his major in fashion design.
"This is something I always planned to
do once 1 got in trouble," Samuels said of
his education. In fact, he said he decided to
pursue a college degree during the First
night he spent at the penitentiary.
Sitting in the common room of the Air
Force hospital-turned state facility,
Samuels talked more about classes than
convictions and more about the future
than the past.
Hie 28-year-old black man smoked one
Kool cigarette after another, growing quiet
when the reporter took notes, talkative
when she stopped her pencil.
Samuels is carrying 1 5 hours. His travel
on campus is restricted to his class build
ing, Love Library, the Nebraska Union and
the Coliseum gymnasium. He is dropped
off each morning and picked up each after
noon by a center supervisor. If he wants to
go off campus he has to let his supervisor
know.
Samuels is not trailed by a guard on
campus nor is the center surrounded by
guards. But he follows the rules and stays
in the buildings he is supposed to. Samuels
has his own personal guard: "He's up
here," he says, pointing to his head.
Avery says Samuels - he calls Winfred
by his last name even in his presence - is
doing "pretty good" at the university.
"Sometimes we find they do real well
the first semester," Avery said of his ed
release residents. But then, "sometimes
their grades have a tendency to slide a
little."
Samuel's grades did slide. Last semester
he was put on academic probation,
"I got two D's that I shouldn't have
got," he said. His goal for this semester is
to maintain a C average; center rules set
that minimum for their'ed-release students.
At one point in the interview, Samuels
slid his small, thin frame from his chair,
rose and volunteered to fetch some
mementos from his room. He returned
with two plaques, one from the Jaycees for
being a loyal and efficient treasurer and
one from the Toastmasters for highest
honors in speaking. He also brought out a
pair of black cotton pants, stitched for a
class project on his old black Singer sewing
machine.
The plaques remain unhung; no nails
allowed in room walls, Avery says. The
pants remain unhemmed, a defect that
earned Samuels a C-plus mark.
He read a Daily Nebraskan story about
Charles Starkweather's 1958 murder spree
and was worried about the impression it
left. Alter reading such accounts, he said,
"people think that everyone who commits
a crime is insane." That impression made
him worry about granting an interview
and allowing his crime to be publicized.
Only a few teachers and students know
where he lives and why.
"I'm trying to get myself back to
gether," he said. Being a university student
and a Moslem help in that effect, and he
said he is rebuilding some of the motiva
tion he had before committing his crime.
He expects to be released in two years
if his sentence is cut in half for good be
havior - and to have completed his fashion
design degree. Then, he'll probably leave
Lincoln and try to open a tailor's shop
somewhere.
He doesn't expect to get in trouble
again - especially not so close to the end
of his sentence.
"Sometimes you can be out there in the
world and forget about how good you have
it," he said.
He forgot once - on Oct. 16, 1978.
Chances are he won't forget again.
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Continued from Page 1
Perez said the Terrace Hall space may
be underestimated, because the plans
the task force saw showed two floors
of multi-purpose space, able to hold
60 people each. The present center can
hold 75 to 100 people, Perez said.
Vaughn Anthony, entertainment
chairman for Kapp3 Alpha Psi frater
nity, said although he has not been in
the Terrace Hall building, he under
stands it has a full basement that could
be used for parties and other functions.
Most of Kappa Alpha Psi's functions
are off campus or in the union, he
said, but the group would like to use
the Culture Center more.
"The present Culture Center doesn't
have the kind of atmosphere you need
for parties," he said. "You really
wouldn't want to get dressed up to go
there."
Before the Culture Center can be
moved into Terrace Hall, the NU
Board of Regents will have to approve
the bond funding, which causes con
cern among the students.
"A group is forming just to keep
the Culture Center in Terrace Hall
now," Perez said.
Both Schvvartzkopf and Smith said
they would like to meet with each
other to discuss the issue.
"That dialogue needs to occur,"
Schwartzkopf said. "There would be
no reason for moving someone some
place they don't want to be."
The university decided not to pur
chase the school building last year, but
the NU Foundation is considering
buying the building and donating it
to the university, Armstrong said.
Schwartzkopf said the result of
that purchase would be to house the
Culture Center or the Recreation De
partment in the building.
"1 just don't want to see the Culture
Center moved just to be moved," he
said. "If we're going to move it, let's
really improve the space and meet the
needs of the center."
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